Have you checked your credit report lately?
If not, now would be a good time for a couple of reasons.
First, it is the beginning of a new year so why not get off on the right foot knowing exactly where you stand financially. That way you can track your progress.
Secondly, Transunion is offering a 30-day promotion which will allow you to get your credit report and scores from all three major credit bureaus for FREE! (my favorite price!). Just be sure to cancel your subscription before the 30-day trial period ends so you don’t get charged the $14.95 monthly fee thereafter.
You should also know that per the FACT Act (Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act), every consumer has the right to request a free report from each of the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — once a year. You’re also entitled to a free report if you’ve recently been denied credit, have been turned down for a job, are on public assistance, or have reason to suspect that you’re a victim of identity theft.
Most experts recommend staggering the free reports, so that you can keep an eye on your credit throughout the year….and since I am a budding “expert” I recommend the same (wink). You request these free reports from www.annualcreditreport.com, not directly from the credit reporting agencies. Be sure to use this site only, as search engines like Google will lead you to sites like www.freecreditreport.com which will ultimately charge you for your reports. Don’t fall for into their trap.
Unfortunately, the catch with the FACT Act is that they only entitle you to receive free credit reports not your scores. While reports are great for making sure that everything reflected in your credit history is correct, the key piece of information used by most lenders is your credit score. Most companies charge as much as $15 bucks to get your score.
This is what makes the Transunion deal so sweet! You can get your reports and your score for free AND still reserve the option to review your FREE credit reports later in the year at www.annualcreditreport.com.
For those of you who haven’t checked your credit reports in a year or so you will also notice that the big 3 firms are using a new scoring system called Vantage Score which rates your credit using grades (A, B, C, etc.). This score ranges from 501 to 990 (higher than the FICO high of 850) so be sure you accurately interpret your score before celebrating your new and improved credit. Whereas, a score of 750 was previously considered “good”, under the Vantage Score system you will be regarded as an average C-student a la George W.
Now, that I have done all the heavy lifting for you, go on and check your credit…
